BERLIN 鈥� Little is known about how Germany鈥檚 former Chancellor Angela Merkel is spending her retirement, and that seems to be the way she likes it. Thanks to a adapted for television and now proving a hit in Italy, she is back in the headlines 鈥� this time as a fictional small-town amateur sleuth.
As the title suggests, Miss Merkel is a whodunnit that imagines the former chancellor as an Agatha Christie-style detective who starts solving crimes out of sheer boredom. For want of a G7 or European Union summit, Merkel is desperate to put down the garden shears and get back to solving something, anything! This time, it鈥檚 a village murder. Move over, Miss Marple!
The TV adaptation stars German theater doyenne Katharina Thalbach as Merkel. Like Merkel, Thalbach is 70 and from former East Germany. She says it wasn鈥檛 too hard to prepare for the role.
鈥淵ou could always see the burden of power in Merkel鈥檚 shoulders, how it weighed on her,鈥� Thalbach tells NPR. 鈥淪o, I focused on my shoulders, put on a wig and one of her signature colorful boxy blazers and I had the feeling I was her. That I am Angela Merkel!鈥�
Thalbach has met Merkel a number of times but is not sure whether the ex-chancellor is a fan of Miss Merkel.
鈥淭he last time I saw Angela, I tried to find out whether she鈥檚 read the books or seen the series,鈥� Thalbach recalls. 鈥淏ut she deftly dodged the question, saying instead that her office staff are big fans.鈥�
The , David Safier, known previously for his fictional accounts of the Holocaust and his work as a , says he鈥檚 also none the wiser as to what Merkel thinks of his alternative retirement plan for her.
鈥淧robably she has read the novels,鈥� Safier speculates. 鈥淭o be honest, if there would be a crime novel where you are the hero, wouldn鈥檛 you at least read the first 10 pages?鈥�
While the books are a commercial success, the small-screen adaptation by RTL 鈥� which will be 鈥� has received lukewarm reviews in Germany. The broadsheet acknowledged the star power that Thalbach鈥檚 performance brings to the production, but lamented the show鈥檚 鈥渃orny jokes.鈥� German magazine suggested the production company engage Safier as the scriptwriter, seeing as he won an Emmy for a German sitcom .
Safier came up with the idea for Miss Merkel in 2019, on the day Merkel announced she wouldn鈥檛 be running for a fifth term. He says he sat down to watch an old rerun of Columbo that same evening and the idea for his was born.
Safier says Angela Merkel makes for a consummate detective.
鈥淢erkel is highly intelligent, much more intelligent than other politicians,鈥� he says. 鈥淪he is strongheaded. And, after 30 years in politics, she鈥檚 used to dealing with sociopaths and psychopaths.鈥�
Like Miss Marple, Merkel is often underestimated 鈥� something the former chancellor used to her advantage throughout her political career. Thalbach says this particularly baffled alpha-male politicians.
鈥淭he real Merkel was brilliant at finding skeletons in the closets of her political rivals,鈥� Thalbach asserts. 鈥淏ut she had none of her own: the perfect trait for an ace detective!鈥�
Safier says it鈥檚 the references to Merkel鈥檚 former life as chancellor that tickle his readers.
In the first book, Miss Merkel attends a community theater production and remarks that 鈥渃ompared to six hours of Beijing Opera with Xi Jinping, everything else is a piece of cake.鈥�
鈥淗er experience helps her to solve crime mysteries. When she鈥檚 questioning a suspect, she knows that she has to wear him down,鈥� Safier says of his main character. 鈥淢erkel knows what it鈥檚 like to probe and ask questions over and over again. She did it until the early hours at countless EU summits.鈥�
Unlike Miss Marple, Merkel is actually a Mrs. 鈥� a Frau Dr., that is, with a Ph.D. in quantum chemistry. In the TV series, Merkel鈥檚 husband asks why she鈥檚 still wearing her trademark in retirement. Her answer could be considered classic Merkel logic: 鈥淚鈥檝e still got 50 of them in my wardrobe.鈥�
Angie nostalgia aside, Safier says that in his , Miss Merkel is seeing a therapist after realizing, while writing her memoirs, that she neglected to solve a number of issues during her time in office 鈥� be it Germany鈥檚 ailing railway system or relations with Russia.
Merkel was something of an enigma in office. Now, in retirement, the fictional version of her is an open book. The real version is set to be revealed in November. That鈥檚 when Safier鈥檚 next installment comes out 鈥� and when the real Merkel publishes her .
Copyright 2024 NPR
